Professional Development 

2007 Excellence in Teaching Award

The UCEA Excellence in Teaching Award is presented to individuals who have provided outstanding teaching, course development, mentoring of students, and service to continuing education. This award recognizes those who have made significant contributions to credit or noncredit programs and who have provided inspirational teaching to continuing education students.

Douglas C. Munski

University of North Dakota

It is perhaps fitting that Douglas Munski has made his mark at the University of North Dakota teaching geography; the reach of his academic offerings stretches well beyond that state's physical borders. A champion of distance education, Munski, who began teaching at UND in 1978, has been teaching courses for UND Correspondence Study since the early 1980s. He currently teaches three online courses and two correspondence by mail courses in addition to his on-campus instruction.

"Dr. Munski is always one step ahead setting the standard for developing distance courses and teaching at a distance," says UND Assistant Dean Kerry Kerber. "Doug was one of the first instructors to work with our instructional design team to develop an online course and he helped set the standard for quality and delivery."

Munski has shown a deep commitment to the teachers of North Dakota. Not only has he developed a course to fulfill the No Child Left Behind requirement for correspondence and online studies, but he also has taught many workshops for state teachers for graduate credit. His courses are always well received, and teachers who were once his students return to him for continuing education instruction often.

"His competence as an educator, modesty concerning his many achievements, absolute commitment to students, and willingness to help ensure that students have access to what the University of North Dakota has to offer are recognized by everyone on our campus," says Robert Boyd, Vice President for Student and Outreach Services at UND.

Munski's courses are in high demand and student evaluations of his teaching are routinely in the excellent range. Each fall and spring semester, he makes available one of his undergraduate geography courses to other campuses in the North Dakota University System. The courses are "cross-listed," meaning that Munski provides the instruction while each campus that enrolls students keeps its own student head count, tuition dollars and student credit hours. Munski asks for no financial reimbursement for teaching the courses.

"When you work with Dr. Munski in any capacity, the foremost focus for him is 'what is best for the students,' no matter where they are, what age they are, or how he is working with them," says Odella Fuqua, Assistant Dean for Student and Outreach Services. "He is a man who exemplifies what true teaching-in every sense of the word-should be, and his contributions on every level are outstanding."

Munski began his career with UND in 1978. He holds a Ph.D., M.A. and B.S. Ed., all from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.